St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-05-24
A NEWsBOY's NERVE.
Hanging to a Rope of an Escaped
Balloon for Fifty Miles.

Hanging to Rope of an Escaped
Balloon for Fifty Miles.
San Francisco Examiner.
A late trip of the Examiners scientific
party in balloon recalls to memory the
thrilling adventure of San Francisco
newsboy who took an involuntary ex-
cursion in balloon from Oakland to
Suisun plains. Like that of the Exam
lner party the ascension was unher-
aided. But it was alike the town talk
ald the excitement of the hour.
Balloon aScenSiOnS were of rare occur
| renee. and the announcement that a
large balloon was to go up from the
garden i'll Oakland was sufficient to fill
Lnree steamer loads of eXcurSionistS
from San Francisco. 1t was an eXcep-
tlonally pleasant Sunday afternoon in
August, and Mr.. Kelly was to act as
the &ronaut. Numerous small bal
looms had as usual been provided
10 test the currents of air,
and to indicate the probable direction
that the balloon would take upon being
set free. The balloon itself was fine,
Large one, constructed of silk, with the
usual basket attached for carrying pas
SengerS.
Either Kelly was incompetent, the vol
ume of gas insufficient, or for some other,
and to the crowd unknown, cause the
balloon did not ascend when Kelly seated
himself in the suspended car and gave
the signal to cut the rope that fastened
the balloon to the earth. Instead of
going upward it drifted along the ground
Tor some fifty yards, when it was again
secured and Kelly jumped to the ground.
a lighter man then took his place, but it
would not riSn with hin, oifbor Tho M \.
was then detached from the balloon and
piece OF broad scantling attached to it
some four inches i'll width, resembling
a trapeZe bar. The people in the mean
tine were jeering the professor in
gO)d-natured way, and several asked
him to give them ride, presuming that
they would be taken few yards only.
REDDY TAKES A RIDE.
Among them was bright lad of 16,
though looking much younger. He
was a newsboy and orange peddler,
well known in San Francisco for his
quick wit, brilliant shock of intense
He was thin, wiry little fellow, and
known by his comrades as Freddy"
Either of his own notion or at the care
less suggestion of some thOughtleSs per-
son, Reddy jumped astraddle the sus-
pended scantling and handed his basket
of oranges to his partner. Some one
sung out, LET her gOw and up she went,
to the CONSERVATION of every body that
knew it was an accident The boys legs
were suspended in the air, and his
weight depressed the hoop to which the
bar was attached, throwing his back
against the ropes of the balloon, the
ropes being only one-quarter of an inch
in circumference.
As the boy arose Prof. Kelly cried out
to pull the valve rope when he wished
to come down." But the valve rope had
caught in the balloon netting and was
not to be reached. He assembled rapidly
for some forty feet, when a current of
air turned the balloon in southeaSterly
direction, and, clinging to the ropes, he
was carried across an arm of the bay to
the south of Oakland. He then rose to
an immense height.
I. Prof. Kelly mounted fleet horse and
endeavored to follow the course of the
balloon i'll vain. 1t was seen through a
glass to be drifting over the crest of
mountain, but whether the boy still
maintained his grip on the ropes or not
was uncertain. The course of the
voyage was now turned in a north
easterly direction. In half an
hour from the start the bal
loon was lost to view, and there
were no hopes of the boys safety. Death
stared him in the face. If heI was not
dashed to earth he would go up until he
reached great height, when the rare
faction of the air would destroy him.
Another danger awaited him. He was
thinly clad, and would soon become be-
numbed and frozen, relax his hold and
fall to the earth.
REDDY'S THRILLING EXPERIENCE.
Reddy said, in relating his experience,
that he was dizzy at first and shut his
eyes, but thought he must brace up, as
he was in for it, and do the best he
could" lie saw a panorama of the
city. He heard people shouting
orders from below, but could
not distinguish their commands.
He was conscious of his position by the
changing of the location of objects be-
low him. He claimed never to have
lost his presence of mind. He pulled,
he thiIIks, at the valve rope, but it
broke in his hand, and the end drifted
from him. He looked down and
saw a rough country below, and
thought he would not like to
land there, for fear of grizzlies and the
additional dread of getting into some
deep canyon that he would be unable to
find his way out of.
1t was getting along toward dark, and
a more level country. The boy tried,
but failed, to reach the valve rope again,
and almO@ gave up, when an inspira-
ton seized him.
He thought of his knife. Standing up
on the scantling, his limbs already stiff
ened by the cold and the contracted pO-
SitiOn that they had been in so long, he
reached for his pocket-knife, and, open
ing it, put it in his teeth and climbed up
the swinging quarter-inch rope until he
reached the balloon. 1t would not do to
make a large puncture, so he cut
small hole and crawled back to his
perch. The balloon, relieved of its gas,
slowly sank to the ground, and when
within few feet the boy swung off
from his perilous seat and landed unin-
jured, except for slightly sprained
ankle. AS he leaped, the balloon.
missing his weight, went up
to the clouds again and disappeared al
most instantly. 1t was now nearly
night, and he was five miles from any
hon no Slric rlo nd